ReviewNature reviews. Gastroenterology & hepatology2015
Towards a more comprehensive concept for prebiotics.
Review in Nature reviews. Gastroenterology & hepatology, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 378 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
378 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Probiotics and prebiotics as alternatives to antibiotics in aquaculture: a systematic and bibliometric review of antimicrobial and antioxidant mechanisms.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Pooled it
- Nutrition and Gut Microbiome in the Prevention of Food Allergy.Nutrients · 2025Pooled it
- Prebiotics for induction and maintenance of remission in ulcerative colitis.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Bioactive Exploration in Functional Foods: Unlocking Nature's Treasures.Current pharmaceutical biotechnology · 2024Pooled it
- Gut microbes in cerebrovascular diseases: Gut flora imbalance, potential impact mechanisms and promising treatment strategies.Frontiers in immunology · 2022Pooled it
- Baseline intestinal microbiota composition influences response to a real-world dietary fiber intervention.NPJ biofilms and microbiomes · 2025Trial
- Enhancing gut microbiota and microbial function with inulin supplementation in children with obesity.International journal of obesity (2005) · 2024Trial
- High-dose Probiotic Mix ofOpen forum infectious diseases · 2024Trial
- Resistant starch intake facilitates weight loss in humans by reshaping the gut microbiota.Nature metabolism · 2024Trial
- Effects of inulin supplementation on body composition and metabolic outcomes in children with obesity.Scientific reports · 2022Trial
- Foods as Modulators of GLP-1 Secretion.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Review
- Gut Microbiome Responses to Nutritional and Lifestyle Interventions in Pediatric Obesity: A Systematic Review Toward Precision Nutrition.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- The potential role of the gut microbiota in the development of autoantibodies associated with Spondyloarthritis: a narrative review.BMC immunology · 2026Review
- Modulation of Biofunctional and Structural Properties in Stevia-Sweetened Ice Cream by Lactic Fermentation.Food science & nutrition · 2026Article
- Deciphering the Structure-Immunomodulatory Function Relationships of Homopolysaccharides.Nutrients · 2026Review
- The mycobiome, virome and archaeome in gastrointestinal cancers: molecular pathogenesis and therapeutic intervention.Molecular cancer · 2026Review
- Gut-Brain Signaling in Parkinson's Disease: A Narrative Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Microbial regulation of intestinal stem cell function: implications for alleviating intestinal injury of weaned piglets.NPJ biofilms and microbiomes · 2026Review
- Short-Chain Fatty Acids Regulate Poultry Feed Intake via the Hypothalamus: Receptor-Mediated and Epigenetic Mechanisms.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Review
318 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The essential role of the gut microbiota for health has generated tremendous interest in modulating its composition and metabolic function. One of these strategies is prebiotics, which typically refer to selectively fermented nondigestible food ingredients or substances that specifically support the growth and/or activity of health-promoting bacteria that colonize the gastrointestinal tract. In this Perspective, we argue that advances in our understanding of diet-microbiome-host interactions challenge important aspects of the current concept of prebiotics, and especially the requirement for effects to be 'selective' or 'specific'. We propose to revise this concept in an effort to shift the focus towards ecological and functional features of the microbiota more likely to be relevant for host physiology. This revision would provide a more rational basis for the identification of prebiotic compounds, and a framework by which the therapeutic potential of modulating the gut microbiota could be more fully materialized.
Indexed as
Identifiers
25824997What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.